Hedingham's Tudor Castle Restoration Project
Donation protected
Hedingham Castle is an imposing 900-year-old Norman Keep positioned in North Essex and owned by the Lindsay family, who are descendants of the De Veres, the original owners of the Hedingham Estate.
During recent lockdown projects around the Estate, we have uncovered some ancient foundations and brickwork, near the bottom of the bailey of the Keep, of what was the Tudor Castle, a slightly later red brick building (see image below), built by John. 13th Earl of Oxford in 1498 prior to the visit of King Henry VII. This imposing building to the west of the Keep would have housed a chapel, hall, bakehouse, kitchen and pantries, as well as the home of the Earl of Oxford. These have now all gone, but many of the materials have been used again, some in the church tower in the village of Castle Hedingham, and some in the mansion house.
The remaining brickwork is in desperate need of consolidation, to stop any further erosion and collapse and to preserve what is left so that an archaelogical investigation can be carried out to find out more about these fascinating ruins. It is evident that the foundations (see photos below) extend further below and outwards from the brickwork that is currently visible and we would absolutely love to be able to uncover these fully and learn more about this building which was once the main house of the Estate. We believe that the two octagonal sections that we can see may have possibly been stairwells of the Castle and we are fascinated to discover more - we are hopeful that the investigation might give us some clues about the floorplan of the building.
If you would like to donate towards this exciting project, it would be hugely appreciated and we would be honoured to share the restoration journey with you. Thank you so much for your time.
During recent lockdown projects around the Estate, we have uncovered some ancient foundations and brickwork, near the bottom of the bailey of the Keep, of what was the Tudor Castle, a slightly later red brick building (see image below), built by John. 13th Earl of Oxford in 1498 prior to the visit of King Henry VII. This imposing building to the west of the Keep would have housed a chapel, hall, bakehouse, kitchen and pantries, as well as the home of the Earl of Oxford. These have now all gone, but many of the materials have been used again, some in the church tower in the village of Castle Hedingham, and some in the mansion house.
The remaining brickwork is in desperate need of consolidation, to stop any further erosion and collapse and to preserve what is left so that an archaelogical investigation can be carried out to find out more about these fascinating ruins. It is evident that the foundations (see photos below) extend further below and outwards from the brickwork that is currently visible and we would absolutely love to be able to uncover these fully and learn more about this building which was once the main house of the Estate. We believe that the two octagonal sections that we can see may have possibly been stairwells of the Castle and we are fascinated to discover more - we are hopeful that the investigation might give us some clues about the floorplan of the building.
If you would like to donate towards this exciting project, it would be hugely appreciated and we would be honoured to share the restoration journey with you. Thank you so much for your time.
Organizer and beneficiary
Steffi Dry
Organizer
England
Lindsay Demetra
Beneficiary
